Shaft to collar connections for high loaded composite lightweight gear components

摘要

Novel profile-connections provide a wide potential for the efficient manufacture and assembly of lightweight gear-shaft components comprising high performance fibre-composites. The purposeful adjustment of the hollow gear-shaft profile and of the fibre-reinforcement enables the form locking introduction of high torque moments with metal and composite collar components. With the application of high-performance composite materials for hollow gear shafts and collar structures the use of metal materials can be reduced to the area of functional surfaces. Such a multi-material design allows considerable weight reductions for gear components for example in automobile and aerospace applications. An adapted bladder moulding process provides the possibility to integrate metal collar components during the forming and consolidation of a hollow fibre composite gear shaft. To achieve a stable form locking connection to the composite shaft the collar components feature noncircular cutouts for example with polygonal shape. In the joining areas the contour of the composite shaft gets conform to the collar cutouts and generate a profile connection. With a combined braiding and pultrusion process composite gear shafts with constant noncircular hollow profile can be produced efficiently. Together with standardised collar and flange elements which fit to the shaft profile a construction kit for lightweight gear componets is provided. Furthermore fibre braids enable the manufacturing of load adapted collar and flange components either for profile and circular gear shafts.